The King of Skies
by Aladar
Summary: One day in the life of an ancient king- the day of both his greatest triumph and greatest failure.


Inspiration struck around midnight yesterday, two hours later, I've got this to show to you, folks. R&R muchly appreaciated. :)

_**The King of Skies**_

A single brilliant flash erupted from the heavens, illuminating the dull grayness of the world completely, even if only for a scant few seconds. Not long after the jagged image of lightning had split apart the skies came the thunder- its roar mirroring the one of the two fierce battlers caught into a deadly clash deep in the unforgiving embrace of the clouds. The storm was at its strongest- it was as if all of the four winds had decided to clash into a battle of their own, inspired by the two bloodied fliers, and were calling all their allies to war with their chilling howls. The raindrops turned to icy pellets seemingly as soon as they came in existence, shooting towards the warring duo as if in hope of irritating them even further and making the already vicious battle even deadlier. Only the constant flashes of jagged lightning- ones not unlike the tongue-lashing of a giant snake with their hisses and roars- allowed any outsider, if such even existed, to glimpse at the clash of the sky's titans. To the entire outside world, the battle was not unlike a series of moving pictures, still shots of a two-person war to which everyone knew the outcome.

One of them either had to yield or die. And both of them were far too proud to willingly do any such thing.

It was a stalemate, a tiresome and bloody battle that spelled uncertain fate for both of them. It was a battle for the skies, but none of them had intended to take it literally there. It was a battle of the generations, but both of them thought they knew theirs was superior. Progenitor and distant offspring- both of them so different and yet so much like each other in one too many ways.

The Archeos weaseled out of harm's way for the umpteenth time, using his more nimble form, at least compared to the one of his distant off-shoot. His scaly tail lashed out, doing seemingly the impossible and actually doing enough damage to bypass the sturdiness of his opponent's head and actually make him dizzy. Two pairs of curved claws latched onto the already torn skin of his enemy, barely digging deep enough through the rough rock-like tissue. The muscles of his strong flexible neck strained as the Archeos coiled it around the throat of his pray and prepared to sink his serrated teeth in the base of his opponent's skull.

Lightning flared not too far away once more and the thunder that followed mirrored the roar of the trapped flier. The Aerodactyl flailed wildly in the air in a vain and desperate attempt to shake the smaller flier off but his enemy's claws only dug deeper and his fangs clenched even more tightly, making his rock-like skin gradually crack and chip off. The grey fighter dive-bombed with yet another high-pitched shriek, just to climb up seconds later after a sudden change of direction. His mighty membrane wings, their wingspan far exceeding that of their foe, flapping swiftly and assaulting the smaller flier's latched body with the force of twin battering rams. The otherwise small claws on them, made more for gripping than anything else, proved sufficient enough to dig deep into the Aerodactyl's distant ancestor.

The Archeos was finally forced to let go with a painful shriek, followed by one even more intense as the Aerodactyl's oversized leg claws were upon him before he had even had the chance to recover. The older flier's spine threatened to snap under the pressure as one of them dug deep enough to clasp it and the other denied all oxygen to the Archeos by vice-gripping his elongated neck. Evolution proved its advantages as the Aerodactyl's enormous jaws, filled with rows of saw-like fangs, easily bit through the thick skin of his distant forefather. The feathers were hard and sharp and the scales even harder and rougher- but the Archeos's protection was a thing of the distant past, unable to compare to the true rock-like qualities of his descendant's stony hide.

The victorious cry of the Aerodactyl once again blended with the thunder, the lifeless body of the Archeon left behind to plummet to oblivion. Minutes passed and with them the feeling of triumph Aerodactyl had gradually waned, prompting him to swiftly leave the dangerous calamity of the storm around him. After one or two more proud roars, ones that announced his superiority more to the world than to anyone else actually being there, Aerodactyl dove back down. Alas, fatigue was finally kicking in as the battle rage slowly but surely left his body. The rain felt heavier now, its constant pelting relentless and possibly even dangerous as every single droplet of rain immediately turned to ice upon making contact with his skin. His already stiff membrane wings were getting slowly encased in ice and the gray flier hastily flew even faster, racing against time as jagged lightning danced dangerously close to him. The otherwise proud fighter lost hope for a moment, it was as if the storm was refusing to let him go and nature demanded yet another sacrifice, not satisfied with only one of the fighters falling in battle.

But then the veil of the clouds grew thinner and thinner until rays of light started seeping through. Aerodactyl's determined eyes immediately focused on this and with several more strong beats of his purple wings, the giant flier found himself out of the thick storm clouds and as if in a new world in its own right. The farther he went the clearer the sky became, a clear blue with only the occasional white cloud in the far distance. The bright rays of the sun immediately warded off the previous coldness and quickly melted the unwanted ice off Aerodactyl's wings. The otherwise vicious predator reveled in the moment- and according to him at least, he had every right to do so.

He had just defeated in single combat one of the last things that could possibly threaten the dominance of his kind in the skies. The day was brighter than ever, as if to congratulate the aforementioned King of the Skies, and the gentle sun was quick to warm the rocky hide of the cold-blooded predator. The warm southern wind was so different than the ones inside the storm and Aerodactyl took pleasure in letting it carry him to wherever it wished as he glided, only steadily going lower and lower until eventually the seemingly never-ending vastness of the ocean came into view.

He was low enough now- low enough to discern the creatures beneath him. All kinds of fish swam around, in large schools or small groups, finding safety in numbers. Which Aerodactyl deemed a smart thing to do, considering the amount of fellow predators he could see all around him. The red crystals of countless of Tentacool and Tentacruel glistened under the bright sun as they lay in wait of their unsuspecting pray. Even the odd couple of hunting Sharpedo avoided the jellyfish army, only to end up ensnared from beneath by some sly Cradily. Huntail and Gorebyss raced across the reflective surface of the water with breakneck speed, playfully mock-battling the stray Staryu and Starmie that had perched themselves atop some lonely rock to enjoy the sun. A trio of Gyarados raged in the distance but Aerodactyl paid them no heed, feeling confident enough to consider himself king not only of the skies but of the world.

With an expression of joy far too unbelievable for a predator of his rank, Aerodactyl flew even lower, allowing the ocean to spray his face with its salty waters and wash off the blood of his enemy off his fangs. Shifting to a diagonal position, the gray flier cut the waters with his purple wing, not even caring that the blood dripping off him- both his own and of his enemy's- could attract the attention of the fierce overlords of the depths. But even those blood-red whiskered monstrosities with teeth three times his size couldn't scare Aerodactyl now. All was going to be good for the rest of the day and he was going to make sure of it.

The mainland soon came into view and along with it a different kind of sea- one of luscious green that stretched just as far and wide. Aerodactyl once again flew low, even brushing the tips of some of the higher trees, and watched the forest's inhabitants with a look of superior curiosity. The smaller ones hurried to escape when they noticed him flying overhead and parents quickly prepared to shield their young. Only a group of Grovyle stood their ground at the high branches of the trees but even they looked wary of his arrival. With another prideful roar Aerodactyl sped up, soon leaving the lush forests behind and finding himself flying over the vast meadows, filled only with the occasional herd of Tropius- the only ones big enough to dare go out in the open. The grey flier cockily flew right amongst them, maneuvering around their bulky bodies and flying right beneath and between their enormous trunk-like legs. Eventually the mountains came to view- first only distant rocky peaks reaching towards the skies but then turning into jagged sheer walls of stone as he neared them.

Finally arriving at his nest, high above the rest of the world and perched atop the most fitting of cliffs, Aerodactyl threw one last look at _his_ kingdom, both the sky itself and all beneath it, before retiring for a well-earned rest. True, something quite strange caught his attention at first- namely a pair of mountains moving on their own in the far, far distance. But after squinting his trained eyes hard enough he recognized the Torterra, to which even the Tropius were like fleas. The titan made its way slowly in some unknown direction, housing probably millions of Pokémon big and small atop the literal jungle and pair of mountains that grew atop its shell. Aerodactyl deemed it as a fellow king in its own way. It was extremely generous of him to recognize it as a sort of equal but after all, Torterra- during their occasional trip overseas- were the only things the whiskered blood-red overlords of the depths dared not attack. Probably because the Torterra could squash them without noticing.

With a sudden indignant hiss, Aerodactyl jerked his right wing as a stinging sensation washed over it. Some sort of insect fell off it, one of the small blood-sucking ones that were so weak and stupid even the weakest Pokémon could squash them like… well, like a bug. But Aerodactyl didn't do so, feeling overly generous on that day of his greatest triumph. He couldn't just kill left and right little critters anymore- that was what only fledglings who didn't know better did. And he was not one of them anymore, oh no. The blood-sucking critter that had dared feed off his wounds was far too small a prey for him now.

The day gradually flew by, Aerodactyl venturing out of his nest only briefly to provide himself dinner. And dinner had been good and had obviously fed itself well when it had been alive- the gray flier considered it food worthy of his status. The sun had set a good few hours ago but Aerodactyl stubbornly refused to retire to sleep. There was far too much excess energy in his body for him to do so and since he was already well-fed and feeling lazy, chose to just remain perched atop his cliff and once again observe the view of his kingdom. The distant sound of night predators were heard in the distance, the wind somehow managing to bring it to his sensitive years. The sky, his sky, was painted a rich dark blue and only the twinkling bright… thingies way up there provided any sort of light to the half-asleep world. Aerodactyl briefly wondered if he could fly up to one of them- at least to that big bright white one that looked quite closer than all the others. And occasionally he had seen some of them fall down so _maybe_ he could track one down and seize it as a trophy, worthy for one of his status.

And indeed, there was one falling down just then. Aerodactyl considered it a sort of gift to his royal being. Otherwise why would one appear when he had wished for it? This one was a lot bigger, too, and that made him thrice as happy. A flaming trail cut apart the sky as the falling piece of light, one of a size unseen to him before, zoomed far overhead and headed west towards the ocean, probably about to crash right in the middle of it. Aerodactyl was somehow beginning to doubt finding it would be easy.

And then it was as if the world was ripped apart. A blinding light erupted far in the west, probably where the piece of the sky had landed, and illuminated the darkness that had ensnared the world. Despite the pretty light show, Aerodactyl felt something was wrong, terribly wrong, as all of his instincts screamed to him to fly as far away as possible. Winds shifted and brought to him the warning cries of a thousand different Pokémon as a sudden tremor shook the mountain to its very core. And then came another and another, and another, until the gray flier could feel the rock cracking beneath him. His trained eyes widened when he turned west once again.

Something was coming, something far bigger than the Torterra and certainly way more deadlier than everything he had faced before. He just knew it. Fire and water and rock and ground mixed as one as Aerodactyl watched a shockwave of unimaginable proportions uprooting everything in its path and forcing it outwards. It was the size of a dozen mountains- and as traitorous fear gripped Aerodactyl's heart, he tried not to think of the impossibility of escaping something like that.

But he was the king of the skies and he was not going to give up without trying. Aerodactyl spread his mighty wings and let the turbulent winds of the shockwave itself carry him far away. But whatever it was behind him was relentless, growing bigger and faster by the second and he dared not look back for he already knew it was upon him. All five of his senses refused to stop screaming in terror and Aerodactyl just tried harder and harder. But his strength was fleeting quickly, the wounds from earlier that day had already reopened and he was finding it harder to just keep flying and avoid certain death. A glimpse of hope suddenly appeared on the horizon- a pair of twin mountains he soon recognized as the Torterra from before. If only he could take cover somewhere behind it or even find some entry to its impenetrable shell…

With a defying roar Aerodactyl lunged forward with the last of his strength, knowing all too well that if there was something on this world capable of withstanding whatever it was swiftly coming from behind him, that was the Torterra. Rock-like bones and tight muscles strained and creaked in pain as he tried to forget the pain he was in and put his all in one last flight on which his life depended. The Torterra was so close now, he could see how the titan tried to escape itself but it was, ultimately, in vain. After all, aside from the biggest it was probably the slowest thing in existence, too. Even the caves were visible now, some of them partially illuminated by the light of the Fire types hidden deep within. If only he could…

And then the whole world grew silent as Aerodactyl felt something far more powerful than the howling wind pushing him from behind. Pain wrecked his whole being and everything around him was just spinning wilder and wilder, his bones snapping one after another and even his rock-like skin cracking as if it was tree bark. But he stubbornly refused to give up, kept trying to push forward to a haven he couldn't even see anymore, desperately tried to take flight in those ruined skies of his… despite knowing all too well that the membrane of his wings had been the first thing shredded by the pressure. Aerodactyl fought the cold darkness to the very end…

It was the rain that waked him up later. And amidst all the confusion and pain, he barely knew how he could revel in the cold drops of freezing water that fell from above so much, given how he had decided he hated them earlier that day. Maybe the world was just funny as that, no? Aerodactyl couldn't move, but was it due to injuries or fatigue, he couldn't even discern. Even the air burned in his lungs and when he looked up, a feeling of sadness grew in him when he saw the sky, _his_ sky, crying ashen tears that made the air even heavier and harder to breath. Even the clouds looked tainted. And probably were, concluded with sadness Aerodactyl. As the last of his strength left his battered body, he realized that the mass of upturned land in front of him had once been alive after all. Even one of the titans of the world had fallen to the unknown foe, its last- possibly unwilling- act to shield its inhabitants, and Aerodactyl by proxy, from the brunt of the shockwave.

Darkness had begun to embrace him again, this time promising to keep him in her tight cold embrace forever, when he saw it. A small and utterly insignificant blood-sucking critter, deeply immersed in feeding on whatever sap was left of the dying uprooted trees lying around. In truth, it seemed kinda stuck to the sap. But it was very much alive- and for all Aerodactyl knew, didn't seem to be affected by the ashen air. Heavy like lead, the eyelids of the king of skies forced themselves closed soon after, but not before two rows of saw-like teeth were revealed in a grizzled parody of a smile.

At least someone had made it out alive.


End file.
